Agriturismo Montevecchio Isolani

This was our first holiday in the Italian countryside, and Agriturismo Montevecchio Isolani was really the perfect choice. You do need a car, but that's practically always the case if you want to stay outside cities. We picked up a rental car in Bologna and managed to reach the farm according to Google's driving instructions without any problems at all. Montevecchio Isolani is situated in the foothills of the Apennines, at some 200 metres above sea level, and it offers incredible views over the rolling hills towards the Bologna plain down below. I could not get enough of the view we had from our bedroom windows, and made sure to go for photography walks on several evenings to capture the beautiful nature all around. We stayed in the three-bedroom apartment in Il Colmo, at walking distance along an uphill path to the main house (La Torre). We had breakfast at La Torre only the first morning, preferring to have it in our apartment at to our own pace. If we'd been staying at La Torre though, we'd probably have had breakfast there every morning. The apartment was spacious and atmospheric, being in a house that was nearly 100 years old. The old structures had been left visible while converting the interior to very comfortable lodgings. There was free WiFi which functioned very well, and on the one occasion that it didn't, an employee promptly arrived to fix the modem and all was well again. We also had the possibility to do our washing in La Torre, which was very handy as the hot weather made for lots of laundry! Even though Il Colmo contains a few different apartments, we had all the privacy we could wish for, as the apartments have their entrances on different sides of the building and we hardly ever saw any of the other people staying there. On one morning we had the opportunity to visit the wine cellars a little distance away near the Villa Isolani (ancestral palace of the family). The visit, which included wine tasting, was quite informal, interesting and fun, and we made sure to buy a few bottles of the organic wine, which is grown in the vineyards next to the buildings. The pool at La Torre, although not very large, was the perfect place to cool off after a hot day. The ponies were at pasture right next to the pool area, butterflies were dancing in the air and cicadas were singing like crazy. What more could you wish for? All in all, we were very satisfied with our stay, and would warmly recommend Montevecchio Isolani to anyone looking for a peaceful holiday in picture-book surroundings!